Officers and men assembled on the flight deck of the carrier USS Saidor (CVE-117) rehearse the safety procedures for an atomic bomb test, 24 June 1946 (Photo: Joint Task Force One)
Bikini Atoll, 24 June 1946 – All men not required below deck were ordered on deck for a dress rehearsal for Test Able on 1 July, the first postwar bomb dropped from the air since Hiroshima and Nagasaki the year before. The rehearsal was code-named Queen Day. There would be a similar dress rehearsal a few weeks later for the second bomb test, Test Baker, code-named William Day.
The following orders were issued to all men on deck:
- Face away from Bikini
- Sit on Deck
- Close eyes tightly
- Cover eyes with bended arm against the face
- When the order “Carry on” is announced, all hands may safely observe the beautiful display of colors in the incandescent column of cloud and the gigantic clouds, which follow the explosion.
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